After much promo and a very lengthy wait, grime’s most fascinating character steps up to present his latest in a long catalogue of releases that spans more than a decade. There can be no doubt that Wiley has had an fascinating career, he’s forged a genre that is doing better than it has ever done now, he’s had number one singles, he’s had plenty of beefs, he’s been tangled in many a controversy and he’s done all that while enthralling, captivating and capturing the imaginations of anyone who’s ever paid attention to him.

‘Godfather’ is an album that has an impressive array of features scattered across no less than 17 tracks. Across each track, Wiley sounds like an artist full of conviction, he sounds rejuvenated in an era of grime that’s healthier than it’s ever been before. Wiley has released plenty of music over the years but in a time where grime’s stature is growing by the minute, it’s very easy for an artist to get left behind if they lose their mojo. Wiley however certainly hasn’t lost his, in fact, for this album’s sake, he’s redefined it to include some of the same eski energy that made his legendary productions from the early 00s so revered, the spirit of Eskiboy is very much apparent in ‘Godfather’.

‘Can’t Go Wrong’ is exactly the sort of rip-roaring track that demonstrates grime’s authenticity and greater support, something that cannot be ignored any longer. With the booming bass and hard-hitting strings on production, ‘Can’t Go Wrong’ is not only an anthem but a sign of clarity. Wiley is widely known as a pioneer of UK urban music, however he hasn’t always been fully comfortable in his own skin throughout his lengthy career. ‘Can’t Go Wrong’ and the album as a whole however paints Wiley as an artist much more accepting of his own position as an icon in underground music.

With an album made an by an icon, it needs some equally as iconic features; P Money’s absolutely murders his verse in the remix of ‘P Money’, Devlin partners Wiley with real vigour on ‘Bring Them All / Holy Grime’, Ghetts’ seamless flow and bars are heavily prominent in ‘Bang’, the irresistible presence of Newham Generals & the unorthodox yet cutthroat President T yarn tales from grime’s “old school” in ‘Joe Bloggs’ while there’s a definite Roll Deep and Boy Better Know feel to this album with members from both camps scattered across the album, seeing all these heavyweight names feature surely shows the level of respect Wiley has gained over the years but taking all those features aside, when it comes to the man himself, it’s clear that Wiley has been on an eventful journey to be in the place he is now as the ‘Godfather’. Take ‘My Direction’ for example, it’s a track that themes his roots from grime’s early days when he was notorious for clashing MCs, Wiley has that warlord mentality, he is confident, he is fearless, he is a titan that fears no war, the fact he has Devlin, Ghetts and Lethal Bizzle, all MCs that have clashed with Wiley in the past on this album is a triumphant irony. At the same though, ‘U Were Always, Pt 2’, a follow up to the track ‘U Were Always’ which Wiley released back in 2009 is a wifey riddim, giving the album a softer touch. Wiley is also seen as a mentor, a guy who MCs can credit for them entering the grime scene so to have Chip and Ice Kid, two MCs he famously brought through on the Tim Westwood show on Radio One back in the day featuring on ‘On This’ represents a sly blast from the past, Ice Kid in particular is an interesting feature considering he’s an artist schooled in the arts of being as unfathomable as Wiley himself.

‘Godfather’ is an album with plenty of variety but that doesn’t necessary mean that it flows effortlessly from one track to another. There’s no doubt the tracks don’t lack quality but ‘Godfather’ isn’t the sort of album where fans will have an universal liking to all of the tracks, one track on here can easily reverberate with one fan but another fan listening to the same track may feel very different about it. As there are so many artists that feature on this album, you have to consider that tracks have to be right to their certain styles and not everyone is going to like hearing so many different styles in the same project.

Despite being one of most known faces in grime, Wiley is an enigma and a pretty emphatic one at that. His notorious penchant for not turning up to events or cutting his appearances at them short form part of his legacy in the game, he’s in a league of his own when it comes to his ability to be so unpredictable, you don’t know what his next move will be. Trying to unlock his mental and musical psyche over the years is like trying to solve a Rubik Cube behind your back whilst blindfolded, to say his career has been puzzling is an understatement considering the man is arguably grime’s answer to Where’s Wally. Considering he lives in Cyprus now and according to him, he’s reached the end of his career in terms of proving anything, perhaps it’s fitting that the album is called ’Godfather’. In the current circumstances, the album is alluded to be Wiley’s swansong in his career but then again, Wiley is a master of reinventing himself so don’t take his words too seriously. For a man who has been the centre of attention for so long, who knows what he’ll do next, I’m not even sure if the man himself completely knows what his next steps will be.

From the way I was vibzing to this in my kitchen when I heard this for the first time, I knew this EP was a percy. Grandmixxer is one of the most unique DJs and producers around at the moment. How he patterns up his sets with his trademark emotional sounding productions mean you know straight away it’s him on the deckles. When I asked him why his signature sounds are so recognisable, he described them as “his musical truth”. He also said that he doesn’t set out to make one particular sound, “my music is all emotional to me, I just get down and make it, I brought a Triton which a lot of the early grime pioneers were using so you could call my sound Triton based or grime as it was”. ‘Balcony Music’ is inspired by one of the first tunes Grandmixxer ever made which to him had all the elements that he wanted in it, to him, it was a coming of age as a producer.

The EP includes 3 tracks all of essentially the same name; ‘Balcony Music’, ‘Balcony Music 2’ and ‘Balcony Music – Angel Mix’ as well as the contrasting track, ‘Dragonball Z’. With his label, South London Space Agency launching soon and a special bonus track released to mark the EP, Grandmixxer’s not sure what other plans he has but he assured me that whatever comes in the future, it will be big. ‘Balcony Music’ is out now, click on the artwork below to listen to and buy the EP.

DaVinChe – #POWERS

Unless you’re new to grime, if you don’t know who DaVinChe is, you need to come out of the cave you’ve been dwelling in and hold this L. DaVinChe is an R&G don, a respected producer in the game and more importantly, he’s a guy with powers in abundance. In just 14 days, DaVinChe managed to get 32 artists together to make an album, entirely produced by himself. With this album full of singers, rappers and MCs all together, this album is pretty much like a pic-a-mix bag of sweets, there’s tracks in here that everyone can enjoy whether you want to power up or just reconnect with the feelings you were afraid to catch. There are older faces in here as well as newer ones and the combos that they pattern up on this album are pretty interesting, there are tracks that have artists together that you wouldn’t necessary think would go together but actually end up jamming together well. Considering how difficult it can be to put an album and making sure it’s as perfect as it can be, it’s extraordinary that DaVinChe made this album in just a fortnight featuring this many artists but then again, DaVinChe is a pretty extraordinary person, he’s had the #POWERS from early.

Eyez – Never Ever

The start of a new year presents the chance for artists under the radar to make a name for themselves and off the back of captaining Derby to victory in the final of the Red Bull Grime-A-Side, Eyez is out here starting the year on the front foot, trying to cement the momentum he made last year with the music video for his track ‘Never Ever’. Eyez’s witty wordplay, punchy bars and confident swagger are getting more and more recognition and while he’s still underrated, this year presents the opportunity for him to make an impact, he’s not an emcee to be slept on.

Big Zuu – Fire In The Booth

There’s not many in the game who have as much energy as Big Zuu, the West Londoner’s ferocious cannon-like flow allows him to dump a whole heap of bombs whenever he shells down. With bars upon bars in his lyrical arsenal, Zuu graced Charlie Sloth’s Saturday Night Rap Show to do his debut Fire In The Booth. Zuu as always shells down with at least 110% energy. Looking at his performance, it’s almost as if he’s going to explode, a lyrical combustion happening before our very eyes as he uses the power of the serious joints to burn down the booth, Big Zuu is here to stay in 2017.

Donae’O Motives

Mr. ‘Man A Wear Black’ himself is going to busy with a pair of upcoming motives. Firstly, on the 2nd of February, he’s celebrating his birthday in style at the Notting Hill Arts Club in collaboration with Pardon My Blog and Movin Anti, the night will also be raising funds for two charities as well so donations will be welcome. If that isn’t enough, Donae’O will be going in at his debut headline show at The Camden Assembly on the 16th of March. It’s mad thinking Donae’O is only having his debut headline show this year considering how long he’s been clarting down the clubs, delivering the vibes to make all the mandem & all the gyaldem move to each other during his music career but considering that he signed onto the Island Records label, cementing his first major record deal just this month, it seems appropriate to celebrate that achievement with an event that will surely mark much more to come from the talented artist. Click on the pictures below to find out more about the events including coping tickets.

Slimzos Recordings Doing Bits

If you don’t know about Slimzos Recordings, they’re a grime record label that started during grime’s early days when grime (still without a name) was just garage’s new but darker sounding younger brother. The label is run by the iconic DJ Slimzee, a pioneer who co-founded Rinse FM and was one of the early trailblazers in the scene. Even to this day, Slimzee is still the guy when it comes to dubplate exclusives so as a producer, if he spins your stuff, know that it’s going to pop off. That same feeling existed back in the day, his sets on pirate radio the stuff of legend, his work with the likes of Rinse FM, Pay As You Go Cartel, Roll Deep and his contribution on Dizzee Rascal’s Boy In Da Corner album no doubt place him as a juggernaut in not just grime but UK underground music. Wiley may be the ‘Godfather’ when it comes to MCs but Slimzee is the ‘Godfather’ when it comes to DJs.

Unfortunately for Slimzee, he got slapped with an ASBO in 2005, meaning he was unable to place radio transmitters on top of tower blocks for pirate radio, in fact he wasn’t even allowed to go above the fifth floor of any building otherwise he’d go to jail. After that, Slimzee went quiet and left the underground music scene.

Fast forward to now and things are much different, Slimzee’s back in the game, back on Rinse and catching up on lost time. As for his label, that too hibernated when the label owner went into the shadows but this month, Trends, a DJ and producer who’s part of the Slimzos Recordings family dropped an EP on the label. ‘In The Jungle/Iron Fist’ isn’t the only activity in the label, a 4-part All Stars EP is due to drop soon featuring Stirling, Dallen, Garna and AS.IF KID. If that wasn’t enough, on the 22nd of March, the label is hosting an event called ‘Slimzos Sessions’. Slimzee is hosting the event along with the likes of Macabre Unit, J Cush, DJ Argue and more plus special guest MCs spitting bars too. The event’s taking place at The Nest in Dalston, North London from 9PM-2AM.

Slimzos Recordings. Back on the grid and looking to write new memories for a new chapter in a renewed genre.

AJ Tracey – Buster Cannon (Rapture 4D Bootleg)

There’s no doubt that when AJ Tracey released ‘Buster Cannon’ last year, the first track released off his ‘Lil Tracey’ EP that the track was just a little bit special. Canadian producer & MC Tre Mission naturally has to take a lot of credit for the single’s success seeing as he produced it, the production a perfect fit for AJ’s smooth yet striking flow.

The song definitely had a positive impact on Scottish producer Rapture 4D because he’s only gone and made a bootleg for it and made the already spacey sounding riddim sound even more out of this world. The Glasgewian already has a reputation for being a bit of a refix don and this latest instrumental from him hopefully means we’ll be seeing more work of this quality on his new Plasma Abuse label that he and fellow producer Polonis recently started. Rapture’s futuristic sounding bootleg is available for free download, check it out.

New Crown Jules EPs

You know them ones when you’re waiting for a bus to turn up and two of them show up at the same time, well anyone waiting for a “bus” to appear from Crown Jules can expect to see two of them coming together as the label has released two new EPs.

Firstly, you have the smooth ‘Ambience 2’ EP, a mellow five track collection that will make you want to put your slippers on and chill out to the ambient sounds of J Beatz as well as contributions from Juzlo and Limit. Secondly comes the ‘4 Way 3’ EP featuring a mixture of frenzied and calm riddims, a collaboration between Levlz, Limit & J Beatz, Sean D and Sware.

The EPs are out now, click on the artworks below.

Freeza Chin’s Ghetto Gospel Mix

This year marks a landmark, it’s been ten years since Ghetts (or Ghetto as he was known before) released his second album ‘Ghetto Gospel’. To mark the occasion, Canadian DJ and Tizzy Gang representer Freeza Chin put together a special mix and premiered it on Radar Radio to mark the anniversary, the mix is packed the best of the best of Ghetts’ songs. If you’re a fan of Ghetts, I suggest you listen to this mix to either go down memory lane or embark on a musical Mecca and enlighten yourself with the sounds of one of the most influential spitters to come out of East London.

Breakage – Hard (feat. Newham Generals & David Rodigan (2009))

Ending GM6, we go down memory lane with this killer dubstep meets grime track from producer Breakage featuring the mighty Newham Generals as well as the voice of David Rodigan, a stalwart in the reggae and dancehall scene, Rodigan is certainly a man who knows his way around a dubplate clash. Footsie & D Double E have been hard from day, arguably there’s not a better pairing than those two when they’re going b2b, no surprise that they duppied this instrumental.